Supplies of masks have run low as coronavirus has spread, and fashion houses and carmakers are among the companies that have started making them to protect health workers and others as restrictions begin to ease in many places.

Many governments are making the wearing of masks a precondition for lifting lockdowns, allowing people to return to shops, offices and factories. And with any potential vaccine many months away, billions more masks are going to be needed.

As a result, prices are soaring. Basic surgical masks that until last year cost a few cents are now retailing at as much as $1.25 each in some places and prices of respirator-grade N95 masks, which stop at least 95% of particles, have been reported as high as $25.

As coronavirus continues to claim lives across the globe, here’s what you need to know about face masks.

This is how prevalent mask wearing is around the world.

Image: Statista

What does the World Health Organization say about masks?

The World Health Organization says if you are healthy, you only need to wear a mask if you are taking care of a person with COVID-19. The WHO also advises people to wear one if they are coughing and sneezing, and says they are only effective if combined with frequent handwashing.

Around the world, entrepreneurs have started making masks, but not all are of sufficient quality to meet international standards. The United States, the Netherlands, Spain and Turkey have all rejected imported batches on quality grounds.

What is the World Economic Forum doing about the coronavirus outbreak?

A new strain of Coronavirus, COVID 19, is spreading around the world, causing deaths and major disruption to the global economy.

Responding to this crisis requires global cooperation among governments, international organizations and the business community, which is at the centre of the World Economic Forum’s mission as the International Organization for Public-Private Cooperation.

The Forum has created the COVID Action Platform, a global platform to convene the business community for collective action, protect people’s livelihoods and facilitate business continuity, and mobilize support for the COVID-19 response. The platform is created with the support of the World Health Organization and is open to all businesses and industry groups, as well as other stakeholders, aiming to integrate and inform joint action.

As an organization, the Forum has a track record of supporting efforts to contain epidemics. In 2017, at our Annual Meeting, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) was launched – bringing together experts from government, business, health, academia and civil society to accelerate the development of vaccines. CEPI is currently supporting the race to develop a vaccine against this strand of the coronavirus.

Manufacturers across the world are producing three types of mask – surgical masks, respirators and cloth face coverings.

Surgical masks are designed to protect patients from infection during surgery, for example if a doctor coughs in an operating theatre. Respirators, on the other hand, filter air passing in and out of the mask.

Cloth face coverings, including home-made masks, are recommended by the CDC as they help stop the wearer from spreading infection. But COVID-19 is spread by micro-droplets emitted when breathing which can enter the body through the eyes and mouth.

To combat micro-droplets, health workers wear visors for eye protection. The WHO says the best way to avoid infection is to wash hands frequently and avoid touching your face. A mask may help you stop spreading the virus but hygiene is the key to avoiding getting it, it says.